The Old Hall pt 12

As October drew to a close the weather had been exceptionally mild and i really expected the fish to be getting on with their autumn munch. I had managed to gain a few hours and made an early dart to the lake.  I arrived at the lake after an horrific journey taking twice the usual time due to a road traffic accident, pushing the journey to over 3 hrs for an 86 mile trip. I finally arrived at 10 pm in driving rain and howling winds. I opted for the middle of the lake, giving me a lot of water i could cover if needed. Once the home was built and the 3 rods out on stringers of 8 freebies and loaded with 18 mm Bacteria B1's topped off with the 8 mm Scuds at 60 yards, 40 yards and  a margin rod were positioned, i could finally get out of the waterproofs and into the comfort of the bivvy. With the kettle boiling in no time i was soon sat with a cuppa in hand listening to the rain beating on the bivvy. The weather was so diabolical that i had little option but to bring down the side panels of the bivvy to give me protection from the driving rain. I'm not a fan of having to use them as i like to watch the water from my bed during the dark hours. It wasn't long before i settled into the bag for a much needed sleep.

I woke to the dawn chorus and was a little gutted not to have had an early fish. The rods were re-baited and settled onto areas that i could now bait up. 2 rods were fished around 8ft apart with a tight grouping of bait surrounding them, at round 45 yards, over the course of the day i would introduce a couple of kilo to the main spot. The 3rd rod was cast up towards the floating island, with just a trickle of 10 baits applied to the surrounding area. The day passed uneventfully and with no more than a single possible sighting of carp. Even the bream seemed dis-inclined to feed.
The night came and went and i was soon waking to my last full day on the bank. The weather had barely let up and i had seen little to nothing of the lakes residents. I considered a move to the shallows so i could fish the streams, these spots have rarely let me down over the season and my confidence of fish using them in these conditions was high. I spent a good while up the shallow end watching for some signs that fish were present but i saw nothing. After a cuppa i then proceeded to head to the deeper end of the lake and again i spent the best part of an hour watching for signs, again i saw nothing to make me move swims so in the end i chose to stay put where i was and sit on the previously applied bait patches. Id not had even a line bite on the indicators so managed to refrain from adding more baits, Instead i re-baited the rods, packed away the bits of kit i wasn't likely to use and got an early night ready for a morning departure.

It would be 3 weeks before i could get bank side again. The weather had stayed mild but wet and windy for October and into November. The conditions looked good for the session with a full moon on the Thursday evening. It was -2 with clear sky's when i arrived, this time without the stress of a slow journey. I set up in the corner down the far end to give me access to the deeper water. The rods were flicked out to either margin with just one in open water, all on 8 bait stringers for the night. Come morning the wind had turned and was hacking in at me, the cloud cover that was forecast had arrived and was threatening to dump its load. If the rain came it would be pushing directly at me, and with that in mind i shifted the kit 5 yards up the slope and under the protection of an ancient  yew tree. This meant i was side on to the driving wind and much comfier for the move. I left the rods out till lunchtime on the minimal bait that had gone in with the rigs. In that time i had been getting an area going with oily B1 baits at around 60 yards out in open water. The two marginal rods were re-positioned with a couple of handful of 18mm baits and a couple of pouches of pellets. By midday the rain had started i finally moved a rod onto the baited patch. I half expected a quick pick up but it never came.  It rained and rained, i was bivvy bound, It got worse and at one point was virtually horizontal! It just didn't stop until just before dark. As darkness was now closing in at 4.30 pm i just had time to re-bait the 3 rods before total blackness enveloped the lake, the full moon yet to rise above the horizon.

Sitting back with a brew the moon broke the cover of the trees at around 7.30 pm and lit the venue up. Ive always done well on this water on a full moon so my expectancy's were high. Sadly the night passed into morning  uneventfully. I hadn't seen a fish in over 24 hrs and again thoughts turned to the shallow water where the streams entered. The rain was back with a vengeance and being lazy i stayed put, sitting it out on the spots i had already baited up.

The second night was imminent and again my confidence was super high, many of my fish have come on the 2nd night over the big bed of bait so i opted to feed another kilo into the open water area and topped the margin areas up with a couple of handful of boilies and pellet. 8 pm and the right hand margin rod started to bleep, into the boots and i was crouching next to the rod when the bobbin lifted again, i lifted into a bream. Gutted wasn't the word, Unhooked in the water and the rod re-positioned, it would be 20 minutes before a 2nd bait stealer would nail itself on my hook. Thankfully that was the end of the bream for the night, but i was still waiting for a pick up off a carp. Night turned to day and it was time to depart.

At the moment i just cant seem to find the fish in the lake, the water clarity is amazing, yet the fish are nowhere to be seen, granted they are not the showiest of fish but the lack of sightings is making location difficult. Usually at night i can locate the fish easily, as this is when they seem to be most showy and at their most confident but the last couple of sessions I've not heard them doing this. One area i have neglected recently is the stream mouths and i am becoming convinced that the fish are sitting in and around the reed beds adjacent to the these two inlets. I've done well off these areas soon after heavy rain has ceased so i think im going to concentrate my efforts on those if the weather is to be wet next session out.